A combined picture of President Bola Tinubu, Siminalayi Fubara and Nyesom Wike
Yes, the emergency was a necessary evil , and the president had no choice but to declare a state of emergency given the intransigence of the two gladiators- minister Nyesom Wike and the governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara – who simply put their egos and political interests forward over the interest of the state, the peace, prosperity and good governance of the state.
In all this, it’s the citizens of the state who are the victims of these political shenanigans. Wike and Fubara had all the opportunity to resolve their differences, but they refused to do so, placing their interest above good governance in the state.
As the crisis festered, governance was set aside and the good people of Rivers State was left without any iota of governance, making the people to resort to despondency and there was clear deprivation of the rights of the people.
As the issue is the sharing of the resources and treasury of the state, the people who elected Fubara were not actually in the picture, and for Wike, the former governor who is now minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Fubara was meant to hold fort for him while he’s on a recess in Abuja.
President Bola Tinubu in declaring the emergency rule noted that “Also, it is public knowledge that the Governor of Rivers State for unjustifiable reasons, demolished the House of Assembly of the state as far back as 13th December 2023 and has, up until now, fourteen (14) months after, not rebuilt same. I have made personal interventions between the contending parties for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but my efforts have been largely ignored by the parties to the crisis. I am also aware that many well-meaning Nigerians, Leaders of thought and Patriotic groups have also intervened at various times with the best of intentions to resolve the matter, but all their efforts were also to no avail. Still, I thank them.
On February 28, 2025, the supreme court, in a judgment in respect of about eight consolidated appeals concerning the political crisis in Rivers State, based on several grave unconstitutional acts and disregard of rule of law that have been committed by the Governor of Rivers State as shown by the evidence before it pronounced in very clear terms:
“a government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of a state under the 1999 Constitution as amended. In this case the head of the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him to govern without the legislature as a despot. As it is there is no government in Rivers State.”
The above pronouncement came after a catalogue of judicial findings of constitutional breaches against the Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Going Forward in their judgment, and having found and held that 27 members of the House who had allegedly defected “are still valid members of Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot be prevented from participating in the proceedings of that House by the 8th Respondent (that is, the Governor) in cohorts with four members”
The Supreme Court then made some orders to restore the state to immediate constitutional democracy. These orders include the immediate passing of an Appropriation Bill by the Rivers State House of Assembly which up till now has not been facilitated.
The above points as valid as they are, did not mention the ignoble role of Wike, whose intransigence and refusal to allow Fubara to govern the state was the catalyst for the crisis in the first place.
While there have been arguments in favour and against the emergency rule have been vociferous, it’s the considered opinion of this newspaper that the unpopular declaration was a necessary evil to thaw the tension in the state and to use the period of the emergency to resolve all the issues before the expiration of the emergency period.
